VirtualDoseCT Reference Publication Released in Physics in Medicine and Biology
A new manuscript has recently been published in one of the leading medical physics journals in the world, providing a summary of the scientific basis behind the VirtualDoseCT system. The paper, “VirtualDose: a software for reporting organ doses from CT for adult and pediatric patients” appears in the 21 July issue if Physics in Medicine and Biology. Read the abstract via PubMed Access the full article (subscription required) at IOPScience The technology in VirtualDoseCT is backed by more than a decade of high-quality, peer-reviewed research. An up-to-date listing of the many papers and presentations related to VirtualDose and the Virtual Phantoms technology is always available at our papers page. ...
Read MorePACSHealth, LLC Unit Partners with Virtual Phantoms, Inc to Improve Patient Radiation Dose Monitoring
Scottsdale, AZ, July 10th , 2015 — PHS Technologies Group LLC, a division of PACSHealth, LLC, a developer of innovative software that records and analyzes ionizing radiation data from medical imaging procedures, announced today that it will integrate VirtualDose™CT software from Virtual Phantoms Inc. into their industry leading dose monitoring product DoseMonitor®. “We are pleased to announce the integration of a next generation tool into our popular DoseMonitor product. This feature will enhance organ dose modeling and ultimately improve patient safety during medical imaging procedures,” said Mike Battin, COO of PACSHealth, LLC. “The ability to effectively monitor radiation dose indices during certain medical imaging procedures has become increasingly important.” DoseMonitor is a single server, browser based software application that automates radiation dose data collection and reporting. It fully integrates into an RIS, EMR, and the American College of Radiology’s Dose Index Registry, helping to eliminate time-consuming manual steps and reducing input errors. Facilities can accurately depict historical exposure and compare, aggregate, and interpret data from ionizing radiation sources for an individual patient, exam, or between diagnostic modalities in multiple facilities. VirtualDose™CT is sophisticated radiation dose simulation software constructed with a well-tested family of anatomically correct phantoms, advanced GPU-based Monte Carlo simulation, and innovative SaaS programming techniques that were developed from more than a decade of research. It enables users to accurately compute doses to radiosensitive organs for a broad range of the patient population, including those outside the “average” body size, and pediatric patients from newborn through adolescence. It includes data for the latest CT scanners and the most current risk coefficients for computation of effective dose. “We are thrilled to establish this new partnership with PHS Technologies Group to extend the VirtualDose technology to DoseMonitor customers,” said Dr. George Xu, founder and CEO of Virtual Phantoms, Inc. DoseMonitor’s capabilities include: Automated data collection for computed tomography (CT), mammography, direct radiography (DR), interventional radiography(XA), and cardiac angiography. Advanced report generation, including cumulative organ dose, dose by technologist by procedure, dose by physician by procedure, mammography reporting (organ and mean glandular dose), and age range support for alerts and notifications. Intelligent patient search—by name, partial name, medical record, and/or accession number. Compatibility with VMware®-based implementations, enabling hospitals to “virtualize” hardware on existing servers, reducing the need for new hardware and decreasing the total IT effort required to implement the solution. Support for direct data exchange with Nuance’s Powerscribe 360 | Reporting that places the dose index data directly into the interpretive report. About PHS Technologies Group LLC PHS Technologies Group, LLC is a division of PACSHealth, LLC, a medical software development company based in Scottsdale, AZ, which develops software systems for medical imaging technology. Their advanced applications help reduce patient exposure to ionizing radiation enabling hospitals to manage patient radiation exposure and comply with regulatory requirements and industry guidelines while increasing efficiency and reducing cost. For more information about DoseMonitor, please visit www.dosemonitor.com or call or email Mike Battin (877) 877-1457 x802; mike.battin@pacshealth.com. About VPI Virtual Phantoms, Inc. was founded in 2009 by faculty members from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in collaboration with the University of Florida, with an exclusive license of the “Virtual Patient” technologies developed from nearly 20 years research at RPI and UF in the field of nuclear and radiological engineering. Combining a large collection of anatomically accurate models of patients of various ages and sizes and sophisticated “Monte Carlo” simulation methods originally developed for nuclear weapons research at Los Alamos in the 1940s, VPI is recognized as a world leader in the modeling of ionizing radiation, radiation safety, and...
Read MoreNumber of Users of VirtualDose™CT Increased Worldwide
Albany, NY – (Jan 10, 2015) After undergone vigorous clinical testing and evaluation in 2013, VirtualDose™CT has since been licensed to more than 40 users worldwide, including such medical centers as Massachusetts General Hospital, Mayo Clinic, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In addition to direct licensing to end users, VirtualDose™ was also designed as an OEM for use with other PACS software tools. To date, we have entered a strategic partnership with several companies including Sectra and GE....
Read MoreSectra and Virtual Phantoms are Partners!
Albany, NY – (May 15, 2014) Virtual Phantoms is pleased to announce its partnership with Sectra. This partnership is to integrate the Sectra DoseTrack and VPI VirtualDoseCT products together to give customers the best Dose Management and the most accurate organ dose calculations possible. For more information, please visit Sectra online and Virtual Phantoms online. About Sectra DoseTrack Sectra DoseTrack™ is a web-based dose monitoring solution that allows you to monitor patient radiation doses and ensure that they are kept as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). Sectra DoseTrack automatically collects, stores and monitors data from all connected modalities saving valuable time and facilitating analysis. Sectra DoseTrack allows you to easily track and compare the radiation levels on modality, examination or patient level. The system can be configured to provide automatic alerts when radiation levels exceed established thresholds. It is also easy to export data for reporting to regulatory authorities or for further analysis in Excel. The system has the ability to be configured using local and national DRL (Dose Reference Levels) to allow the organization to ensure that it is performing within expected thresholds. For more information about Sectra, please visit Sectra online. About VirtualDoseCT VirtualDose™CT is sophisticated radiation dose simulation software for radiologists, radiological technologists, medical physicists, regulators, manufacturers and researchers. Thanks to the use of a well-tested family of anatomically correct phantoms of adults and children, revolutionary GPU-based Monte Carlo simulation, and innovative SaaS programming techniques that were developed from more than one decade of research, it permits radiation health professionals to obtain highly accurate images with much greater patient safety. VirtualDoseCT enables users to compute doses to radiosensitive organs, in addition to non-patient-specific CTDI and DLP data provided by the CT scanner. It is able to differentiate for individuals outside of the “average” population body habitus. It covers the latest CT scanners and methodologies on effective dose. Read more about VirtualDoseCT...
Read MoreAware Integrates Virtual Phantoms VirtualDose™CT software with Aware REM Server
Albany, NY – (August 1, 2013) Aware and Virtual Phantoms have successfully integrated their respective software applications to enhance the radiation dose data collection and monitoring capabilities of Aware REM Server with the patient-specific organ dose estimation of VirtualDoseCT. The result is the ability for users of REM Server to include organ dose estimations in their reports. About Aware REM Server Aware REM Server is a centralized software application that runs on a healthcare provider’s network and receives dose data from radiological equipment, including CT scanners and fluoroscopy equipment. It can then distribute the data in standard-compliant form to radiology reporting systems, PACS, and external data registries. It also provides advanced reporting functions through a browser-based user interface that clinicians can use to perform statistical analysis on the data. Aware REM Server is designed to enable healthcare providers to collect radiation exposure data based on the IHE’s Radiation Exposure Monitoring (REM) Integration Profile, generate customized dosage estimation reports for comparison to other results, and then upload the data to the American College of Radiology (ACR) Dose Index Registry (DIR). The reports can be used to help identify opportunities for lowering unnecessary radiation exposure. REM Server also stores and analyzes DICOM-compliant radiation dose information as it becomes available to calculate exposure information near real-time. This allows professionals to produce customized reports that summarize exposure information by physician, modality, time/date, institution or other user-defined queries. REM Server provides a rich user interface that enables direct access to exposure information as well as summary information through interactive analysis tools. Reports can be manually created or automatically run at predetermined intervals. Additional information about radiation exposure monitoring is available in a white paper available on Aware’s website. For additional information about Aware REM Server, visit Aware online. About VirtualDoseCT VirtualDose™CT is sophisticated radiation dose simulation software for radiologists, radiological technologists, medical physicists, regulators, manufacturers and researchers. Thanks to the use of a well-tested family of anatomically correct phantoms of adults and children, revolutionary GPU-based Monte Carlo simulation, and innovative SaaS programming techniques that were developed from more than one decade of research, it permits radiation health professionals to obtain highly accurate images with much greater patient safety. VirtualDoseCT enables users to compute doses to radiosensitive organs, in addition to non-patient-specific CTDI and DLP data provided by the CT scanner. It is able to differentiate for individuals outside of the “average” population body habitus. It covers the latest CT scanners and methodologies on effective dose. Read more about VirtualDoseCT...
Read MoreCurbing CT Scans in Kids Could Cut Cancer Risk
CBS News – (June 10, 2013) Computerized tomography, or CT scans, are being given to children and adolescents in increasing rates, according to new research, potentially putting cancer in their futures. The researchers estimate that nearly 5,000 future cancer cases could be caused by the roughly 4 million pediatric CT scans performed each year. “The increased use of CT in pediatrics, combined with the wide variability in radiation doses, has resulted in many children receiving a high-dose examination,” the study authors wrote. Published Jun 10 in JAMA Pediatrics, the new study tracked CT scan rates among children younger than 15 from 1996 to 2005. A CT scan uses x-rays to create pictures of cross-sections of the body, including the brain, chest, spine and abdomen. Previous research has shown children with a history of frequent CT scans or X-rays may be at an increased risk for cancer due to radiation exposure. A June 2012 study in The Lancet found kids who get two or three CT scans before they turn 15 face three times more risk for brain cancer, and those who get five to 10 scans in the same time frame face triple the risk for leukemia. The overall rates, however, were still low, the researchers pointed out: The risk of leukemia in children is already about 1 in 2,000, so having multiple CT scans might increase that risk to about 1 in 600 cases. CT scans expose people to more radiation than a typical X-ray. Children are more sensitive to radiation-induced cancer than older adults because they have more years for the cancer to develop, according to the researchers, who were led by Dr. Diana L. Miglioretti, a senior investigator at the Group Health Research Institute and the University of California, Davis. Miglioretti’s team looked at a decade’s worth of pediatric CT scans from databases of seven U.S. health care systems that included up to 371,000 children. They also measured radiation exposure from 744 pediatric CT scans of the head, chest, abdomen/pelvis and spine — these tests make up about 95 percent of pediatric CT scans, according to the researchers. The researchers found the number of CT scans given to kids during the study period doubled among children ages 5 and younger and tripled for those between 5 and 14 years old. The rates stabilized between 2006 and 2007, before starting to decline. The risks were higher for patients who underwent abdomen or spine CT scans than those who underwent other types, the researchers discovered. Specifically for girls, who were found to be at a higher radiation risk than boys, the researchers predicted that a radiation-induced cancer might result from every 300 to 390 abdomen/pelvis scans, 330 to 480 chest CTs, and 270 to 800 spine scans, depending on age. Younger patients faced higher risk than older children. Leukemia risk was highest from head CTs for children younger than 5 years of age at a rate of almost two cases per 10,000 CT scans. Reducing the highest 25 percent of doses to the midpoint dose may prevent 43 percent of the cancers, they estimated. They called for more research into whether other imaging methods or no imaging at all could be as effective for kids. In an accompanying editorial published in the same journal issue, Dr. Alan R. Schroeder, a pediatrician at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif. and JAMA Internal Medicine editor Dr. Rita F. Redberg wrote that eliminating unnecessary medical scans and using the minimal dose necessary is a “high priority” for public health. “This will require a shift in our culture to become more tolerant of...
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